Upgrading options

[Apocalypsee]

My PC specs are on my profile. Im looking for an upgrade but I dont know which one is the most cost effective for my use. My primary use for PC is purely gaming, but not competitively. Currently I'm thinking of this:

Option 1:
Buy new monitor. My current monitor is 8 years old, it still good but Im thinking of buying either good quality IPS/VA ones or high refresh 144Hz. I don't think of buying higher resolution than 1080p.
Monitor options: Samsung C24FG70 (VA 1080p), BenQ XL2411Z (1080p 144Hz TN)

Option 2:
Buy a new CPU. Since I only game at 1080p I thinking of buying faster CPU to handle my 980Ti better at this resolution.
CPU options: Ryzen 5 1600 or i5 8600K. Or just simple upgrade to 4770K or 4790K for 8 thread goodness. Both of this could clock higher than mine i5 too.

Option 3:
Buy new GPU. Yes 980 Ti is still runs great but it runs rather warm inside my case, I need to put additional fan behind the GPU to cool it further. So I thinking of selling my card and upgrade to GTX 1080. Should run cooler, faster and extra 2GB of VRAM.

Or if you have a better suggestion that might be better. I'm all ears.

 

[eidairaman1]

If you go with a 8600K you need a new motherboard along with Ryzen 5, I'd honestly see how much a haswell/devils canyon cpu is and upgrade to that and keep the rest the same.

Otherwise Ryzen will have a longer upgrade path.

 

[Apocalypsee]

If you go with a 8600K you need a new motherboard along with Ryzen 5, I'd honestly see how much a haswell/devils canyon cpu is and upgrade to that and keep the rest the same.

Otherwise Ryzen will have a longer upgrade path.

Yep I know, along with new CPU I need to change motherboard and RAM since all the newer ones use DDR4. I'll try to look to used 477k or 4790k and compare their prices to new CPU. Thanks for your opinions

 

[mad1394]

I think you should consider moving up to 1440p and get a 144hz monitor. 24 or 27 inch.
Current CPU is fine.
Buying 1080 so late this generation is something I would not do. Just wait for new graphics cards if you think the 980 ti is getting long in the tooth.

 

[Toothless]

Bump up the monitor. It'll be the best upgrade path and see if you can push that 4670k farther.

 

[Apocalypsee]

I think you should consider moving up to 1440p and get a 144hz monitor. 24 or 27 inch.
Current CPU is fine.
Buying 1080 so late this generation is something I would not do. Just wait for new graphics cards if you think the 980 ti is getting long in the tooth.

Bump up the monitor. It'll be the best upgrade path and see if you can push that 4670k farther.

Thanks both of you. My 4670k already being delidded and maxed at 4.5GHz currently. You got a point on next gen of graphics will be here soon. Any recommendation on what a good budget monitor for gaming?

 

[mad1394]

I would buy a TN panel 144hz from Benq. You will still see an improvement even with TN coming from such an old monitor.

Looking at prices the higher resolutions VA/IPS panels are double the price of full hd + 144hz. So it all depends how deep your pockets are.
How much are you able to spend on the monitor?

 

[Apocalypsee]

I would buy a TN panel 144hz from Benq. You will still see an improvement even with TN coming from such an old monitor.

Looking at prices the higher resolutions VA/IPS panels are double the price of full hd + 144hz. So it all depends how deep your pockets are.
How much are you able to spend on the monitor?

Well, prices are much higher in my country but I dont want to spend more than USD300

 

[P4-630]

How about a Dell 1440p 165Hz G-Sync monitor?
The S2417DG or the 27" version.

I'm pretty satisfied with it, if you can get it cheap as I you would have a good deal.

 

[Ebo]

I had a Iiyama pro 26" 1920x1200 TN panel screen 2ms, and it worked wonders for me for just about 5 years. Now I have a 27" IPS Iiyama pro screen 5ms 2560x1440 and theres a world between, in colors and also clarity.

 

[peche]

Option 1:
Buy new monitor. My current monitor is 8 years old, it still good but Im thinking of buying either good quality IPS/VA ones or high refresh 144Hz. I don't think of buying higher resolution than 1080p.
Monitor options: Samsung C24FG70 (VA 1080p), BenQ XL2411Z (1080p 144Hz TN)

Well played, makes a lot of sense, also the old monitor could be used as 2nd monitor or spare one,

Option 2:
Buy a new CPU. Since I only game at 1080p I thinking of buying faster CPU to handle my 980Ti better at this resolution.
CPU options: Ryzen 5 1600 or i5 8600K. Or just simple upgrade to 4770K or 4790K for 8 thread goodness. Both of this could clock higher than mine i5 too.

makes no sense for me, or do feel your hardware limited by that great processor?
just in case this persists, the best option: sencond handed haswell / devils canyon i7.....

Option 3:
Buy new GPU. Yes 980 Ti is still runs great but it runs rather warm inside my case, I need to put additional fan behind the GPU to cool it further. So I thinking of selling my card and upgrade to GTX 1080. Should run cooler, faster and extra 2GB of VRAM.

GTX 980ti still an excellent video card, also fot 1080p still rocks, what about take it apart, dust it off, a little clean and Thermal paste and pads replacement?

 

[Apocalypsee]

How about a Dell 1440p 165Hz G-Sync monitor?
The S2417DG or the 27" version.

I'm pretty satisfied with it, if you can get it cheap as I you would have a good deal.

I could get the 24 inch version for a good price, I saw a listing someone selling it brand new for a bit less than MSRP. Buying it is cheaper than buying CPU+mobo+RAM combo. But it's GSync means I am pretty much locked with nvidia if I want to buy new GPU.

Well played, makes a lot of sense, also the old monitor could be used as 2nd monitor or spare one,
makes no sense for me, or do feel your hardware limited by that great processor?
just in case this persists, the best option: sencond handed haswell / devils canyon i7.....
GTX 980ti still an excellent video card, also fot 1080p still rocks, what about take it apart, dust it off, a little clean and Thermal paste and pads replacement?

Yep I inclined to buy new monitor, the reason I wanted to upgrade the CPU is on some games like GTA V it does suffer sometimes at higher population density and variety settings. Maybe it is just this game do that at ultra setting.

The card is clean and temperature is still good, only when at idle the fan stops so the back of the card heats up. I really don't like that.

I'll try to look at other 1440p 24 or 27 inch monitors if I could get a good deal on one.

 

[neko77025]

Going too start with your GPU.

980 Ti ... its still a beast. Inless you are doing 4k you dont need A new GPU. I have A 980ti strix and i can run most games high / max across 3x screens in 5760 x 1080p . All that being said .. you can get about $300.00 value from A used 980ti. ( I play warthunder on Very high/high mix 5760 x 1080 @ 120+ FPS every day

Your CPU vs newer LGA 1150 cpu. I dont think the cost right now is worth it. I been looking at ebay A few times everyday for the last 3 - 4 months. Used prices are NUTs .. however they have been falling because of all the new sockets / chipsets ect ect. 4790ks used are selling for 250 - 260.00 (USED DDR3 is just a few bucks cheaper then new DDR 4) .. Also the gains will not be all that much. (ALSO KEEP A LOOK OUT FOR LGA 1150 XEONs , I OWNED A E3-1231V3 and it was only about 1% slower then my 4790k Both at stock, in same motherboards) (CANT overclock the Xeon , but you will get 8x threads and will work with z87/z97 boards)

EDITED IN vvvvv
You can get an E3-1240 v3 3.4ghz /3.8 turbo 4core/8Thread on ebay for $160.00
The i5 4670k sells for almost that much on ebay... so if you want 8 threads its almost A even trade. I think the thread gains will make up for the Ghz loss in the long run when games use more then 4threads but might be a few. (some benchmark stuff below)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-Xeon-...1150-CPU-SR152-3-8GHz-Max-Turbo/263255511593?

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=i5+4670K+vs+Xeon+E3-1240+v3
EDITED IN ^^^^

144hz monitor ... I have 3x of them ... to tell the truth .. they are useless for me. How many games will you play that will make use of it .... I dont play CSGO or any games that need it ... but at the time .. that was the big thing .. mybad. ... (side note , I have 3x and play with them as one ... its nice for very few games but A pain in the ass for other. when I make A change I will be getting one 27" 1440p. ( I think the monitor would be the bigest up grade)

Other Notes .... your SSD. I dont know how you can live with only 120gb of SSD. Looking at http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Z87 Extreme4/?cat=Download&os=BIOS the newest bios supports NVMe .... You could get A Samsung 960 EVO and A PCIe to M.2 Adapter. Would be A very nice upgrade in space and speed. ( I use this one https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01798WOJ0/?tag=tec06d-20 ) It has A PCIe x4 and A Sata.


Any how that is my thoughts ...

 

[Apocalypsee]

Thank you neko for your opinion. I'll try to look for 2nd hand Xeon if its reasonably priced locally but still I put monitor as my priority.

I actually have another 120GB 840 and mSATA 256GB that I got from dead laptop but I dont have the need to put it. My SSD only filled with OS and some important programs, and not even half full. All my other file ans games are on my harddrive

 

[John Naylor]

Option 1, as for the monitor, the problem w/ 1080p is that by the time you squeeze all the goodness into a 23-24" monitor (IPS, 144+Hz, IPS, G-Sync, ULMB), a) the price is almost double TN monitors w/ IPS and G-Sync and b) you are very close to a 1440p panel with the same features. At 1080p, we recommend the Asus VG248QE or BenQ equivalent with toastystrobelight. A 980 Ti will deliver above 60 fps in just about anything so if ya had G-Sync, many users might choose to switch it off to use ULMB instead for motion blur reduction. The toasty strobelight utility provides MBR. Compatible monitors include:

https://www.blurbusters.com/faq/120hz-monitors/

ASUS VG248QE 24″ TN 1920×1080 144 Hz • LightBoost
BenQ XL2411T 24″ TN 1920×1080 144 Hz • LightBoost
BenQ XL2420T 24″ TN 1920×1080 144 Hz • LightBoost
BenQ XL2420TE 24″ TN 1920×1080 144 Hz • LightBoost

Option 2 really brings nothing to the table ... As indicated in TPUs review data, having more than 8 threads doesn't bring anything home, nor does more than 4 GB of VRAM, at least not at 1080p. From what I have seen in TPus reviews ...

1080p 3 GB or greater
1440p 6 GB or greater
2160p 11 GB or greater

https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Intel/Core_i5_8400/19.html

"I find it surprising that there is very little difference between the i5-8400, i5-8600K, and i7-8700K in gaming, even at the highly CPU-limited scenario of 720p. This suggests that today's games see limited gains from more than four cores. It is good news for gamers on a budget because a Core i5-8400 will be completely sufficient to not bottleneck even the fastest graphics cards."

We have CPUs going back to Sandy Bridge and see no observable impact going up to Kaby Lake. I've tested the 2600k with HT on and off and Off is actually faster, because it reduces temps by 7C allowing me to get a higher OC. Here we also see that the i7s don't always finish first ... and the i5's often OC higher due to less threads.

https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/Ryzen_5_1600/12.html

Option 3 again the Ti already has twice what is **needed** for VRAM at 1080p. I can see a case for 4 GB but not 8GB... if ya look at the TPU reviews for the 1060 3 and 6 GB cards, the 6 GB card is about 6% faster because of the extra shaders. One would expect that, if VRAM was a factor , jumping from 1080p to 1440p would widen that 6% difference we saw at 1080p, but its exactly the same.

https://tpucdn.com/reviews/MSI/GTX_1060_Gaming_X_3_GB/images/perfrel_1920_1080.png
https://tpucdn.com/reviews/MSI/GTX_1060_Gaming_X_3_GB/images/perfrel_2560_1440.png

The 1080 will get you an additional 32% on average at 1080. But I'd wait to see what the new 1070 Ti (next week if rumor holds) brings to the table along with the relative cost before deciding which to get.

 

[Apocalypsee]

Good point John Naylor, thanks for the thorough answer. That is some good recommendation. After some thoughts, I don't think I going to buy new CPU+ mobo combo since all the games I play is old games anyway, so the higher refresh/lightboost monitor would suit me better

 

[ASOT]

Option 1 with IPS panel

 

[eidairaman1]

Apocalypsee, good suggestion and easy upgrade, Get the 4790K and call it a day.

 

[Apocalypsee]

Option 1 with IPS panel

Hmm, thats the problem. Its either fast TN screen or good color IPS display. Between the two I have headache which one to really choose since once I bought it I'll be using it for a looong time.

Apocalypsee, good suggestion and easy upgrade, Get the 4790K and call it a day.

I'll try to get a good deal locally but so far I found none. All the good deal already gone. Prices all over the place, I could've got an ES i7 Skylake + Z170 mobo for an i7 4790k

 

[ASOT]

Nowdays IPS panel have evolve with great latency grey to grey....so 2ms/4ms are not bad

TN are getting old,colors looks bad,accuracy too,go IPS

 

[eidairaman1]

Hmm, thats the problem. Its either fast TN screen or good color IPS display. Between the two I have headache which one to really choose since once I bought it I'll be using it for a looong time.


I'll try to get a good deal locally but so far I found none. All the good deal already gone. Prices all over the place, I could've got an ES i7 Skylake + Z170 mobo for an i7 4790k

Ok Grab a Xeon then

 

[Apocalypsee]

Nowdays IPS panel have evolve with great latency grey to grey....so 2ms/4ms are not bad

TN are getting old,colors looks bad,accuracy too,go IPS

Thanks for replying, Im kinda torn between Philips 257E7QDSB which got good praise at wecravegamestoo thread, its a true 8-bit IPS panel and rather cheap, or Dell U2417H (which get good reviews at PCMonitors, its more expensive than the Philips and slightly smaller.

Ok Grab a Xeon then

Unfortunately, Xeon is similarly priced as the i7s

 

[eidairaman1]

Either way you're gonna spend money, unless you are going to skt 2066, AM4 or SP3r2, I'd upgrade the cpu for the existing platform before jumping to another iMSDT.

 

[Apocalypsee]

I scratch both LCD since it's not available at the shop so I bought LG 24MP59G, which have the price drop nicely on my birthday (from RM648 to RM550), IPS display really made a huge difference both in color clarity and viewing angle. But it doesn't come with DisplayPort cable, I need to buy one. IPS, 75Hz and Freesync compatible. Its very good for its price.